Expanded use of wireless networking in the home, coupled with the broad availability of a variety of consumer media content in digital form has resulted in an increasing number of consumer appliances being offered with standard or optional wireless networking capability. Such appliances may include, for example, A/V receivers, digital picture frames, Internet radios, network music players, etc. An example of such a network is illustrated in FIG. 1.
Initial configuration of these appliances for operation on a user's network (most commonly a so-called Wi-Fi network based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards) can however be tedious and frustrating. The limited GUI and interface (remote control and/or panel buttons) of such appliances is not well suited to this task, which usually requires the entry of alphanumeric data such as network ID, encryption keys and passwords, etc. For example, in a secure Wi-Fi network this may include at a minimum a network name (SSID) and a Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) password. It should be noted that while for convenience Wi-Fi terminology may be used throughout the balance of this document, the techniques and methods described are not intended to be limited to Wi-Fi networks only.
Several approaches have been taken or proposed at various times to overcome this initial configuration issue. When performed on the appliance itself, setup and configuration generally uses the controlling device or front panel buttons to either scroll through an alphabet (e.g., channel up and down) or alternatively to perform multi-stroke character entry using the numeric pad as is well known in the cellular phone environment. Other approaches involve bringing the appliance into the proximity of an existing network device and either physically connecting it via a cable or initiating some form of near field communication (e.g., RFID) to authenticate the new appliance being introduced. Another approach proposed by the Wi-Fi Alliance utilizes a unique “PIN” which is factory programmed into each appliance and also printed on an external sticker placed on the appliance, its manual, and/or its packaging. A user enters this PIN value into some other already connected network device to authenticate the new appliance. Yet another approach exemplified by Microsoft's “Wireless Connect Now” feature of Windows XP SP2 proposes the use of a “memory stick” or USB flash drive to transfer settings data from a network-connected personal computer to the new appliance.